In Sickness and In Health
by fluffyandkagura
Summary: Ariadne is sick. Arthur shows up at her door with orders from Cobb to take care of her. After Cobb himself lets a secret slip, Ariadne might just have to have to think of a new way to thank the Point-Man. Rated K plus for fluff. I do not own Inception!


Summary- Ariadne is sick. Arthur shows up at her door with orders from Cobb to take care of her. After Cobb himself lets a secret slip, Ariadne might just have to have to think of a new way to thank the Point-Man. Rating K plus. I do not own Inception!

Much love to my beta also, **Dark Kitten Saki**. She is amazing! And also another one of my cousins! You should check her out :D

* * *

Ariadne awoke early that morning. She awoke because of a horrendous coughing fit that overtook her during her sleep. It took her hours to fall back asleep after that because of a serious headache that had descended upon her poor defenseless head. She was still half-asleep, and therefore didn't remember that she could take medicine until she was too asleep to feel like getting up. After lying in bed for at least 3 hours miserably, she finally fell back to sleep, hoping that the headache would be gone by the time she awoke.

Her alarm woke her up at around 8, the time that she usually had it set for. She opened her eyes, wondering whether she would feel any better now than she had before. She might have been relieved that her headache was gone if it hadn't been for the fact that her body ached all over, and that she was colder than she had felt before. After pulling the blankets close to her, she became too hot, and threw them off. This only made her cold again. The blanket was thrown back and forth for another 10 minutes or so until the alarm went off again. She forced herself to turn it off. She received her phone from her purse and went to go lie back down of the bed.

She scrolled though her contacts. It would probably have been better to call Cobb, but Arthur's name was listed first, seeing how his name stared with an A. She hit the 'send' button, and listened as the phone rang.

"Hello," Arthur answered after the second ring.

"Hey, it's Ariadne." She answered, cringing at the sound of her own voice. She sounded awful. But she felt awful, so she supposed it fit.

"Ariadne? Is everything alright?" he asked her. She could hear the worry in his voice. She wasn't sure if he was worried because she called his phone (something she didn't usually do) or because she sounded so awful. Probably a combination of the two, she decided.

"Yeah. I'm not coming in today." She told him.

"Are you okay?" he asked her. She would have guessed by now that it would have been obvious. Still she answered the question.

"I'm sick," she spoke into the phone. She resisted the urge to moan the word 'sick', the way she had done when she was a kid.

"Alright. Are you sure that you're okay?" he asked one more time.

"Yes Arthur. Or at least, I will be," she added. They said their goodbyes and hung up. Ariadne set her phone on the table and fell back asleep.

* * *

She awoke to the sound of her doorbell. Utterly not in the mood to get up, she rolled over in her bed and decided to ignore it. It rang again, and once again she ignored it. Silence fell upon the apartment, and for a moment Ariadne thought that the insulting noise was through. Until her phone rang. Groaning, she threw out her hand and grabbed the phone, not bothering to look at the caller ID.

"Hello?" she answered; annoyance in her voice.

"Are you going to let me in or not?" a clipped voice asked her from the other end.

"Arthur?" she asked, surprised.

"Yes. I've been ringing your doorbell for a while now. Would you mind?" he asked her. Sighing, she closed the phone, not bothering with goodbyes. She threw the covers off herself and stood up. Upon doing so, she stumbled forward, dizziness overtaking her for a moment. She brought a hand up to her head, groaning again. She trudged to the door, pausing only to look at herself in the mirror. She was a sorry sight for sure. Her hair was a mess, her face was pale and her eyes bloodshot. She was wearing ratty pajamas that were damp with sweat.

Oh yes, Arthur would just be ecstatic to see her in this situation. Knowing Arthur, he was probably here to drag her to work regardless of how healthy she was, or wasn't. What did he care if her body had become a vessel for viruses? She finally made it to the door and opened it.

"If you're here to bring me back to the warehouse then please show yourself out," she said. Pleasantry wasn't a luxury that she could afford right now.

"Good morning to you too," he replied. She glared at him.

"Why are you here?" she asked him.

"Orders from Cobb. He wanted me to check in with you, stay with you for today and make sure you were alright." He told her. She groaned.

"I'm sorry Arthur. You don't need to stay if you don't want to; I'll be fine by myself." She told him.

"Like I said. Orders from Cobb. I'd rather not disappoint him." Arthur explained. Ariadne was reminded of the last time Arthur had messed up orders from Cobb. If this was an order, she had better oblige.

"Fine. Come in," she instructed. Arthur did as he was told, and entered the apartment. He took in what he saw. The apartment was relatively clean for belonging to such an un-organized women. Books were stacked in piles around the room, and papers were on the table. Aside from that and a few empty pop cans in sporadic places, the place was relatively clean. There wasn't much in it. There was one couch that faced a TV and a coffee table in front of that. Behind the couch and facing the window was a desk, and across from that desk was the kitchen. The kitchen lead to what he thought was probably a small laundry room. There was a short hallway on the opposite side of the room that he assumed led to the bedroom and bathroom.

"You should know that all I plan to do today is sleep," Ariadne announced from inside her bedroom. She came out carrying a blanket and pillow. She sat down on the couch and gave Arthur a questioning look.

"Well you need someone here to help you with the things that you can't do. You're helpless enough when you're healthy" He joked with her. It could have been the fever, but Ariadne could have sworn that he was flirting with her. But she was too tired to care.

"Arthur, I think I got…two hours of sleep last night? All I want to do is curl up into a ball and die," she moaned from the couch.

"Ariadne, have you even taken any medicine yet?" he asked her.

"Two. Hours." She repeated again, enunciating each word. Arthur chuckled.

"Where do you keep it?" he asked her.

"Bathroom down the hallway. Medicine cabinet," she spoke in chopped sentenced. He walked down the hallway. He opened the door to what he hoped was her bathroom, and luckily he was right. It was small, only a stand-in shower and one toilet next to each other. Next to those were a small sink and a counter littered with make-up containers and brushes, and tubes of lipstick. There were drawers that Arthur didn't open, but he did open the medicine cabinet above. He looked for a generic bottle of cold medicine or Tylenol, and tried not to scan the other medicines in the cabinet. Unfortunately he couldn't stop his eyes from landing on the bright blue word that read "MIDOL". He quickly looked away (it was just a medicine bottle, there was really no need to be embarrassed he tried to tell himself) and grabbed a bottle of Nyquil. He closed the medicine cabinet and walked out of the bathroom, reading the label.

Ariadne, who had just been finally drifting felt a hand on her shoulder. Her eyes fluttered open, and she groaned, obviously not too fond of being woken up.

"Are you trying to kill me?" she asked Arthur, who sat down next to her and held out a cup of liquid. She took it and drank. She rolled her eyes when he smiled at her.

"Now can I sleep?" she asked him. He nodded, satisfied. She threw the blanket over her and lay down to sleep. Despite the blanket, she still shivered.

"Are you cold?" he asked her. She nodded, but didn't open her eyes.

"Until I have the blanket on for too long. Then I'm too hot," She explained. He nodded.

"Sounds like a fever," he spoke.

"Brilliant!" Ariadne declared from the couch. She knew that she was being rude, but she had a right, didn't she?

"I'm just trying to help," Arthur defended.

"I know. But I'm trying to sleep," she retorted. He sighed and stood up. He had seen another blanket in her room. The door had been open and he had peaked in for a moment when he was getting the medicine. He entered her room and picked it up, heading back again. Once he was back in the living room, he threw it over her.

"You should stay warm with a fever. Sweat it out," he told her. She didn't say anything, but gave a grunt of acknowledgment. He sat down at the other end of the couch. Her legs were almost curled slightly and her toes almost brushed his legs, but she fell short a few inches. He looked her over as she rested on the couch. She looked tired, even with her eyes closed. She was pale, and her hair was sweaty. Arthur had two fleeting thoughts, the first of which being that he wished there was more he could do to help her feel better. The second thought was how she could still look so beautiful when she was feeling so awful.

"You can turn on the TV if you want. I sleep with it on all the time," she told him, and pointed to a remote. He snatched it off the coffee table and flipped on the TV.

* * *

They sat like that for an hour or so. Ariadne slept heavily while Arthur flipped through various channels. He stopped at the History Channel and watched a documentary about Ancient Egypt. He was watching relatively intently until he heard a cough and saw Ariadne turn. He looked at her for a second. She had been asleep before, he could tell because she hadn't been moving. Her limbs had been completely limp and her mouth was slightly open. Her breathing had also been silent, but even and steady.

It was these finer details that Arthur noticed when people were trying to fall asleep versus when they actually were asleep. People didn't realize how stiff their bodies always were until they fell asleep. Even the keeping the mouth closed was a conscience action, and once asleep the jaw fell open slightly. Sleep was the body's most natural form, its rejuvenation state.

His incredibly long analysis could have been summed up much more simply, if Arthur had been a simple man, by this: Ariadne had just woken up and was stirring slightly now. Once Arthur was satisfied that she was alright, he turned back to the TV.

Slowly, Ariadne began to wake up more. She opened her eyes and began to watch what was on the TV. After a little while, she sat up.

"Good morning," he greeted her. She didn't answer, but rubbed her eyes and yawned. Finally she spoke.

"What was in that medicine?" she asked him. He smiled.

"Relief," he answered her. She chuckled.

"I didn't think I'd ever be able to sleep again," she said.

"Are you talking about being sick, or…in general?" he questioned. She looked at him with a small smile.

"This may come as a surprise to you…or it may come as no surprise at all. But that happens to be the best sleep I've gotten since…well, for a while," she told him, hoping he would understand without having to tell him.

"Most people don't realize how dreams play such a big part of sleeping. Even if we can't remember them, we always dream. My own personal theory is that dreams keep us asleep. The brain is always working. If we can't dream, then we can't sleep. At least, not at first. It does take some getting used to. You should be able to sleep normally after a few more weeks," he explained to her. She nodded. There was a moment of silence before Ariadne talked.

"How long did it take you?" she asked him. He answered without looking at her.

"A few months. It's different for every person," he told her. She nodded, and lay back down. She closed her eyes again.

She fell asleep again after a few minutes. The Ancient Egypt show had ended, and Arthur was reading a book that he had found in a stack of books by the hallway. He had been reading for about two hours when he heard a moan.

"Arthur…" the moan turned into his name. Arthur set the book down on his lap and looked at the girl next to him.

"Yes?" he answered.

"I feel like hell," she told him. He couldn't suppress the laugh.

"Can I get you anything?" he asked her.

"Water," she spoke it as a statement, but there was a hint of a question hidden in it. He got up and walked into her small kitchen. After opening various cupboards, he finally found the one that held her glasses and pulled one out.

"Tap water okay?" he called.

"Yeah," she replied. He filled the cup with cold water and carried it back to her. After sitting back down, he handed her the glass. She sipped the water hesitantly.

"Are you hungry at all?" he asked her. She shook her head, unable to speak with water in her mouth. He watched her eyes grow wide and she gulped the water down.

"God, I'm so sorry! I haven't even thought about you, are you hungry? I can make you something if you are, or we could…" she tried. Arthur cut her off.

"Ariadne, calm down. You're the one who's sick, I'm supposed to be taking care of _you._" He reminded her, placing a hand over hers to calm her. She took a breath and continued.

"It's still my house and you're still a guest," she argued.

"And you're still sick. If I get hungry I'll make myself something. It's fine," he told her. She nodded, and went back to sipping her water. Now that Ariadne was awake again, it didn't feel right to just sit and read.

"Do you want to watch TV?" he asked her.

"Do you mind if I put on a movie?" she asked.

"Not at all," he told her. She got up and walked to a large decorative box by the TV. Upon opening it, Arthur saw that it held DVDs. She pulled one out and put it in the DVD player. She manually flipped the TV to the right input and sat back down on the couch.

"What are we watching?" he asked her.

"One of my favorites. I always watch it when I'm sick," She answered, holding up the case.

"My Fair Lady," he spoke the title. She smiled.

"I…hope you don't mind. I can put in a different movie if you want," she told him. He shook his head.

"I told you, I'm here to take care of you. If that job involves watching old movies with you, that's why I'm here," he said. She laughed and they fell silent as the movie began to play.

* * *

In Ariadne's defense, she had lasted an impressive amount of time before she fell asleep. The movie was almost over by the time she finally surrendered to her tiredness. Arthur took it upon himself to put the movie away and did so. She wasn't asleep for very long before she woke up again. She sat up almost immediately upon waking.

"I apologize for what I'm about to say, but I have never been so sweaty in my life," Ariadne announced. Arthur lifted and eyebrow.

"I'm sorry?" he tried. Ariadne stood up.

"I think my fever just broke. And now I'm incredibly sweaty thanks to your two blanket suggestion." She explained.

"You're welcome," he replied. She gave him a mock smile.

"Well…I think I'm going to take a shower. If you ARE hungry now there's sandwich stuff in the fridge." She told him. He nodded. She smiled and walked out of his eyeshot. He stood up and walked into the kitchen. He was hungry, and opened the fridge to begin making himself lunch.

She wasn't in the shower long. All she needed to do was wash the sweat off and clean her hair, nothing fancy. She got out and dried off quickly. Letting the towel fall to the floor, she picked up her pajamas. It was then that she realized that everything she had been wearing was also damp and disgusting. Sighing, she wrapped the towel around her body and walked quickly into her own room just across the hall. She searched through her closet only to discover that all off her clean pajamas were still in the laundry room. She cursed, and stepped out of her room. She walked into the hallway but before she could enter Arthur's eyesight she called to him.

"Arthur?" she called.

"Yes?" he answered.

"Close your eyes." She instructed. Silence wafted through the air for a moment.

"Why?" he asked.

"Because…I'm in a towel. Just for a second, I promise." She replied.

"They're closed," he told her. She crept out of the hallway slowly and ran through the kitchen to the laundry room. She quickly grabbed a bra, underwear, and pajamas. She wrapped the lingerie in the pajamas and walked back through the hallway. Once she was safe, she alerted him again.

"Okay, you can open them now," she told him. She slowly dropped the towel again and put on her underwear first. She slipped on the pants next, and searched for the bra. She lifted up the shirt only to realize that the bra wasn't there. She panicked when she realized she must have dropped it. As if on cue, she heard a knock on the wall next to the open door.

"I think you dropped something," Arthur's voice drifted into the room and Ariadne watched as he stuck his hand into the room, her bra dangling from it. She snatched it from him.

"I'm sorry," she called. She heard him laugh.

"It's fine," he called back. She put the bra on and put the top on over it. Before leaving, she looked at herself in the mirror. She looked better despite not feeling too much better. Her hair now fell in gentle waves down past her shoulders resting below them. Her face had a little color back on it, mainly just because the heat of the water had made her face red. She sighed and walked out of the bedroom. Arthur sat on the couch, smiling weakly. She smiled back, embarrassed. She walked over, and sat down next to him.

"I'm sorry. Thank you Arthur." She said. He smiled.

"Not a problem," he noted. She laughed. The turned the TV back on and watched for a while as a movie that neither of them had seen played.

* * *

Ariadne woke up this time on her own. She was aware of heat next to her face, so she opened her eyes. She realized shortly that she had fallen asleep on Arthur's shoulder. Arthur himself was also asleep. Flustered, she sat up quickly and chuckled to herself. She had already begun to felt a bit better before she slept, and now she felt much better. Her body still ached and her throat was still raspy, but she didn't feel as miserable as she had been before. She decided that she was finally hungry, and got up to make herself some soup.

She put a can of Campbell's soup on the stove and waited for a bit. It still hadn't completely heated when she heard a phone ring.

The ring didn't belong to her, and when she followed the sound she realized that it was coming from the couch. Not wanting Arthur to wake up, she grabbed the phone from his pocket and was about to silence it when she realized that the caller ID said the call was from Cobb. She answered it.

"Hey Cobb. It's me, Arthur's sleeping," she informed the man on the other end.

"Hey Ariadne. Are you feeling better?" He asked her. She smiled.

"Yes, thank you!" she told him.

"When Arthur wakes up, can you tell him to call me?" he asked.

"I will," she told him.

"Thank you. Oh, and if he refuses to call, remind how much he begged me to let him go over to your place today when we were so busy," he laughed. Ariadne's gaze shot over Arthur.

"Wait, you mean, he asked to come here? You didn't tell him to?" she asked.

"He was practically on the floor hugging my feet! And you can remind him of that if he doesn't want to call me," Cobb told her. She laughed to herself.

"Okay Cobb. I'll make him call. Yes. Bye," she finished her call and hung up the phone. She put the phone back on the table. Smiling, she took her soup off the stove and put it in a bowl. She ate in at the table and while she was washing the bowl, Arthur woke up. He rubbed his eyes, and walked to the sink that she stood at.

"Look who woke up," Ariadne joked.

"I didn't realize how tired I was," he spoke. She laughed. They were silent for a few minutes until finally Ariadne spoke.

"Cobb called. He wants you to call him back," she said without looking up from the sink. He nodded.

"I'll call him later tonight," he told her. Ariadne smiled.

"He said that if you didn't call him I should remind you how much you begged him to let you come here," she spoke. He almost dropped a plate that he had been holding.

"He…he said that?" he asked. She nodded and looked at him.

"Why did you come if you didn't have to?" she asked him. He cleared his throat.

"Because…I wanted to make sure you were alright," he explained. She smiled.

"Then why did you lie?" she questioned. He was silent.

"I…thought it would make the situation less awkward." He tried. She smiled.

"Arthur…you're such a gentleman," she said, and stood on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek.

"If I wasn't sick, that would have been on the lips," she told him. He grabbed her hand and pulled her to him. He bent down and lifted her chin so that he could take her lips with his. She wrapped her hands around his neck and let him kiss her. Finally they broke apart.

"And If I actually cared that you were sick, you might have gotten away with that," he replied, and kissed her again. She laughed, and he pulled her into his embrace.

Arthur called Cobb later that day. He asked him to come back to the warehouse to discuss something, to which Arthur replied with a polite, "screw you," and stayed with Ariadne for the rest of the day. If Ariadne got cold again, Arthur was more than happy to warm her up with by wrapping her in his arms. She might have lied about being cold once or twice, but if Arthur realized this, he didn't seem to mind. Against better judgment, the two kissed they had shared in the kitchen were not the last of the day.

* * *

Ariadne was back to work the next day. Cobb confronted Arthur about the phone call, and after the situation was settled, the day went back to normal. Well normal with the occasional stolen kiss or fleeting glance. It wouldn't have been hard to notice the couple if you had been paying attention. Luckily, the group in the warehouse gave them their privacy. With the exception of Eames, of course, who wouldn't let it go.

Ariadne arrived to the warehouse earlier than usual the next day. She realized upon entering that it was only she and Cobb in the warehouse. Sitting down at her desk, she began to work. She was only interrupted when her phone rang. The caller ID showed Arthur's name. She answered it.

"Hello?" she greeted.

"Damn you," a raspy voice on the other end snapped. Ariadne couldn't stop from laughing out loud.

"I'll be right over," she told him.

"Alright," he replied. She hung up and walked over to Cobb.

"Cobb…Arthur's sick and…" she started but he cut her off.

"Go," was all he said. She smiled and hugged him.

"Thank you," she said, and walked out the door. Cobb watched her leave and chuckled to himself. Between the two of them, no work would ever get done at the warehouse.

* * *

A/N- I like this story a lot! I think it's pretty fluffy haha. Please review and let me know what you thought! It means a lot to me to know how you guys liked it. I actually finished this a while ago but summer assignment kept me from uploading it until now haha. I hope you all liked it! It's a one shot that ended up being a lot longer than I thought :D


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